Packaging

Main navigation

The European Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste promotes the reuse of packaging and the recycling or recovery of packaging waste as the best ways to reduce the dumping of packaging waste in landfills.

AGC Glass Europe undertakes for years actions with its glass stillages and wooden packaging boxes, that reply to the packaging waste directive philosophy.

#par-6466

Reusable steel stillages

#par-6461

#par-1831

#par-1826

AGC Glass Europe has developed various types of steel stillages. Typically, we promote the rotation of those stillages (return of the stillage from our customers sites), so it also allows their reuse. These stillages can be reused for years and result in a minimum of packaging waste.

#par-1821

Today most of the glass packaging is reusable. AGC Glass Europe achieves a very high level of packaging reuse: for example in Belgium 98% of the packaging is reused.

#par-6486

D24: the stillage designed for inloaders trucks

#par-6481

For many years now (even before the waste and packaging waste directive of 1994 release), steel stillages were developed to store and transport the glass by road, instead of the traditional wooden crates. The current special inloaders have also been developed at that time, to transport this new glass packaging in a safe and easy way.

#par-3071

#par-6476

D26: the stillage designed for sea shipments

#par-6471

AGC Glass Europe has designed the D26 steel stillage, that allows to ship DLF glass in containers. These container shipments can replace break-bulk shipments, that use wood packaging. Thanks to these stillages the amount of glass that can be sent by container is up to 24 tonnes without packaging. Also we use that type of shipment when rotation of the stillages is possible (returnal of the stillage).

#par-1861

#par-1876

P08: the flexible stillage designed for large-dimension glass

#par-1866

Typically, the flat glass industry shipped the large-dimension glass (PLF glass) to customers on one-way metal stillages. These stillages ended up at the construction site; some of them may be returned to local glass makers but otherwise they were dumped. Even if they are re-used, some parts may break and the whole stillage then needs to be replaced after a few trips. This represented a huge environmental loss as the lifetime of the stillage is short.

#par-1871

In order to avoid ordering a new stillage for each large-dimension glass shipment (about 800 kg of metal each time!), AGC Glass Europe teamed up with a stillage supplier to design the P08 stillage. This can be dismantled, so that if a part breaks it goes back to our stillage supplier for replacement. These stillages are returned after each shipment to our customers. At the end of their lifetime, the stillages are recycled.

#par-3771

ACG glass packaging

#par-1846

Sustainable use of wood in packaging for glass products

#par-1836

Glass shipped in break-bulk cargo may still be packed in wooden boxes. Today, all of the wood that is used by AGC Belgium, Netherlands, France and Czech Republic comes from PEFC certified wood sources (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes). This ecolabel means that the wood comes from sustainably managed forests.

AGC not only uses sustainable wood sources for packaging, it also strives to reduce the amount of wood used by optimising the packaging design. Our wooden flask packaging has been standardised to an optimum size in order to fit both the laminated and the float glass products in the BENEFRA region.

#par-1841

Additionally, the wood is treated thermally to avoid damage by pests during transport; no chemicals are used in order to lower our impact on the living environment.

In contract negotiations with our suppliers of raw materials and consumables, we also stress the importance of reducing the quantity of loose packaging that ultimately turns into waste in our facilities.

#par-1851

Glass Unlimited

Unlimited in the infinite potential of glass.
In the innovative power of the AGC Group.
In our extensive commercial and production network.
In the commitment of our 16,000 employees.